LONDON (WiMAX Day). At the Mobile Broadband Congress held in London this week, the message delivered by several industry insiders was that WiMAX must be focussed on the consumer experience.

In a keynote speech, Barry West, President 4G Mobile Broadband and CTO at Sprint Nextel, told a captivated audience that in the WiMAX world, the customer is a real person that can connect to the Internet with multiple devices, and can utilise that connection for a multitude of products and services.

This is in contrast to the current voice communications market, he explained, where the customer is actually a telephone, with no other functionality or interaction. Because WiMAX is an IP-based technology, it will allow the consumer to design their mobile broadband experience to suit their lifestyle, rather than adapting their lifestyle to the available technology, as is the case today.

Invisible technology
WiMAX also will enable consumers to interface with and manage technology with greater ease. West cited an example of a self-diagnosing washing machine. Today a broken machine requires a technician to inspect and diagnose a problem, resulting in significant downtime while parts are replaced.

However a washing machine enabled with a WiMAX chip might easily self-diagnose a faulty part, connect itself via WiMAX to a central technical support depot, and order a replacement for the faulty part.

Technological benefits such as this will help consumers to choose WiMAX over other services and technologies. According to Andy McKinnon, Principal WiMAX EMEA at Motorola, most consumers will not distinguish one technology from another, and thus where there are competing technologies, WiMAX must be differentiated based on the benefit it provides to the consumer.

From voice to entertainment services
For WiMAX, the service mix is crucial. While many are focussed on voice applications for WiMAX, McKinnon said at the conference that “service providers must complement voice by adding in other services.”

West also noted that he is not expecting voice to be the killer application for WiMAX. He stated that Sprint already has a voice network, and will no doubt offer a VoIP service and dual mode CDMA-WiMAX devices, however the company is betting on a much larger market for WiMAX, in services and entertainment.

Indeed, West reminded his audience that in America last year, Internet e-commerce generated $120 billion in revenue, which was more than the voice telephony market earned. It is the winning combination of compelling consumer services and mobile broadband connectivity that will propel the growth of WiMAX.

Also focussed on the consumer was Steve Andrews, Group Chief of Mobility & Convergence at BT. While BT is not yet a WiMAX network operator, Andrews said that WiMAX is an integral part of the convergence plan at BT. Moreover, his comments echoed those of others when he revealed a partnership between BT and Sony that will enable the Sony portable Playstation (PSP) to access voice and messaging services through BT. The unanswered question that emerged from this conference was when the PSP will become WiMAX-enabled?